Hafnir

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Hafnir
Hafnir (Iceland)
Red pog.svg
Coordinates 63 ° 56 ′  N , 22 ° 41 ′  W Coordinates: 63 ° 56 ′  N , 22 ° 41 ′  W
Basic data
Country Iceland

region

Suðurnes
local community Reykjanesbær
Residents 108 (January 1, 2019)
Kirkjuvogskirkja in Hafnir
Kirkjuvogskirkja in Hafnir

Hafnir ( Eng. "Ports") is a small town in southwest Iceland on the west side of the Reykjanes Peninsula , located on the south bank of the Ósar Bay .

On January 1, 2019, Hafnir had 108 residents. The distance to the capital Reykjavík is about 50 kilometers.

Hafnir used to be an important trading post and fishing village. The formerly independent local community Hafnahreppur merged in 1994 with Keflavík and Njarðvík to form the municipality of Reykjanesbær .

Worth mentioning are the small red-roofed and dark wooden church Kirkjuvogskirkja from 1861 as well as the marine aquarium . The steeply sloping Hafnarberg bird cliff is located five kilometers south of the village .

In 1870 a ghost ship , the Jamestown , washed up here without a man but with a full load of wood. This wood can still be found today in numerous buildings in the town.

During archaeological excavations, the remains of a courtyard from the 9th century, the time of the conquest , were found here.

On the coast in the north of Hafnir there was a trading place called Básendar since the 15th century . A hiking trail leads north from Hafnir and around the bay where the place was located.

Daughters and Sons of Hafnir

The sailors Jón Brandsson, Vilhjálmur Hákornarson, Sigurður Ísleifsson and Ketill Ketilson came from Hafnir. They landed on the rocky island of Eldey on June 3, 1844 and killed the last two specimens of the giant alk in order to sell the hides to a Danish collector.

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